Racing
After my double-up streak was ended by a pizza night out with the family last night I was ready for a good 5k hit out. 5k is a good distance to get you high into the VO2 / Threshold heart rate zones while being short enough that you can recover quickly. The Park Run organisation puts on free times 5k runs every Saturday at 8am. This is a world wide epidemic (a good one for a change) that is such a great idea. Go online, get a free barcode, run a 5k event and then your time is recorded and emailed to you normally before you finish your coffee and muffin afterwards.
Carine Park run, where I run normally, has a downhill start and this encourages speed and normally too much. I always go out way too fast (rookie error) and then ‘pay the piper’ later. Normally I can limit damage if the legs are fresh but today I ran my quickest first kilometre (3:05min/k) and knew the piper was calling for payback.. I managed to work hard for the last k and finished in 16:43; only 3 seconds outside my PB set a few weeks ago. Very happy with that and it was time for a coffee and muffin to celebrate at the best cafe in Perth , Yelo in Trigg.
http://www.yelocornerstore.com.au
Right , was a nutrition piece. Not sure advocating coffee and muffins is the right thing on a running blog but as long as you put in the hard yards I’m a big believer in the odd treat.
Sometimes a run comes along that defies logic, a run that makes all the hard work . the early mornings, double up days, long runs, time in the pain box, thresholds etc. ; all seem so worthwhile. This years Perth half was one such a run. My half pb stood at 1:16:24 set in 2013 and it was a time I was happy with and one I thought I would never better. Boom ! After a great training block I surprised my myself and broke 1:16 for the first and probably last time. 1:15:55 according to the photo below. Still smiling. Big head wind which made for a good negative split. One of those runs where everything comes together, at my age a rare treat.
A half is a good distance, not too long to disrupt training but long enough to be a good test. Normally set off at 10k pace and try and hang on for as long as possible. On this run hung on until the end.
